Houseplants of the 70s

Seems like succulents are the house plant of choice in homes these days, they need very little water or attention...because lets face it...we are all too busy to babysit our plants and water them daily/weekly.

Back in the 70s though, Ferns and Spider plants ruled our house.  Seemed like every home had a fern back then...although they were difficult to keep alive, and they would constantly shed dry little leaves on your shag carpeting.  One summer, I think it was 1978, I can recall helping my friend and her mother dig up some wild ferns in the woods at the bottom of our cul de sac so that they could pot them and hang them in their back porch.  They always looked so full and lush hanging in their porch area, and it always seemed like a special place to hang out, being surrounded by such beauty.  It was around this time that I developed a love of plants in the home...once I could see how beautiful they could be.  Sadly, plants in my parents home always looked kind of sad, but I made it my mission to make them as beautiful as the plants at my friends house, thus began my love affair with houseplants.

Beautiful and lush fern

Lovely hanging ferns

Spider Plant

Spider plants on the other hand were easier to take care of...and they always seemed to sprout little babies when they were thriving.  My folks had spider plants in their home up until they moved sometime in the early 2000s.  They were moving into an active over 50 community where shoveling snow and mowing the lawns were all taken care of.  Guess they decided they were done with taking care of houseplants too, because now all the plants in their home are fake.  Over the years, spider plants and ferns have fallen out of favor with the home decor schemes...even though 70s retro in decorating is hot right now, the houseplants that helped to create the look have not come back into vogue...yet!